The Boy, The Beauty, The Bulgarian
by WellTravelledHalf
Summary: After the events of the Tri-Wizard Tournament Harry finds himself lonely, frustrated, and in need of comfort. Fortunately support arrives, not from the expected sources but from Harry's fellow Tri-Wizard Champions. Armed with a better trained mind and unbiased friends Harry takes on his fifth year at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

Harry was bored and frustrated. He was once again stuck in the Dursley's house on Privet Drive for the summer. The Dursley's had taken to locking him in his room throughout the afternoon and evening, only letting him out every morning to do the gardening. The heat was almost unbearable. How Harry wished he could cast a cooling charm over himself.

He stared at his small second hand desk from his position on the bedroom floor. On his desk was an unfinished letter addressed to Ron and Hermione. They had been keeping him in the dark about what they were up to for the past couple weeks. Harry was angry. Last school year he had watched Cedric die right in front of him. He had seen Voldemort being brought back to life. He had been _Crucioed._ For the last week he woke up shaking and in cold sweat because his memories of the Third Task and the graveyard had warped themselves into devastating nightmares. He needed comfort. He needed Sirius and his friends. But they were off somewhere together doing things in secret. Harry felt betrayed.

As Harry stared at his ceiling, wondering if he should re-read last year's school books for the umpteenth time, he heard tapping coming from his window.

 _I thought I told Hedwig not to come during the day,_ Harry thought.

He made his way to the window only to find that, instead of Hedwig, there was a regal looking barn owl perched on his window sill. Harry unlocked his window and reached through the bars to accept the letter from the owl's beak.

His name was written on the envelope in unnecessarily elaborate but beautiful cursive. Harry carefully opened it and began to read.

 _#_

 _Dear Harry Potter,_

 _I understand you must be going through a difficult time at the moment after what you witnessed at the Tournament. I would like to offer my condolences for Cedric's loss. From the brief time in which I knew him I could gather that he was an intelligent young man who was well-liked by his peers._

 _Do not listen to the atrocious things the Ministry are saying about you. They are disgusting, cowardly liars… absolute imbeciles! You would not have any reason to lie about Lord Voldemort's return. Know that my family and I believe you and that you have our support._

 _I would also like to apologise for my behaviour towards you at the start of the Tournament. From your actions in the Second Task I can tell that you are a brave, honest and caring boy. I must thank you again for saving my Gabrielle._

 _Finally, please do not blame yourself for what happened in the Third Task. I am sure Cedric, being the kind young man that he was, would not have wished for you to blame yourself either._

 _I would be delighted to continue my correspondence with you. However, if you wish to separate yourself from your memories of the Tournament then I understand if you do not share my feelings. If you should ever need anything; any help or simply someone to speak to, then please do not hesitate to write._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Fleur Delacour_

#

Harry's tears caused Fleur's elaborate signature to melt slightly down the parchment. He wiped them out of his eyes and set the letter carefully on his desk. He was crying silently but it wasn't entirely in grief, he was partly relieved that someone _cared._ Not even Ron and Hermione had offered him any comfort after the Tournament- all their letters had been falsely cheery and evasive. For a while he actually suspected that they had believed the things said about him in the _Daily Prophet._ He wouldn't put it past them, Ron especially- considering the way he had acted at the start of the Tournament.

He sat on his bed, exhausted. His inability to get a full night's rest was weighing down on him and crying certainly didn't help. Harry felt like he was a puppet on strings being yanked this way and that without a moments consideration for his feelings. He was either the Saviour-of-the-Wizarding-World or a Dirty Liar and Criminal when it was convenient to the Ministry. Dumbledore only gave him vague information and told him not to worry, keeping him in the dark about almost everything that was going on around him. Even when it concerned him.

Slowly his feelings of frustration, betrayal and loneliness were replaced by those of anger again. He knew Dumbledore and the others expected him to defeat Voldemort, so why were they withholding information from him?! Information that could potential help him understand his situation! Hell, he could be training right now if he was at the Burrow! But he was stuck here, told to stay as close to his aunt's house as possible, not allowed to do magic and with only his school books to read. Bitter resentment welled up in his chest. There must be something he could do.

In an effort to quell his rage Harry reached for his potions textbook and began memorising the recipe for the _Girding Potion._ Might as well channel his attention and energy into something useful and potions was his worst subject after all. Although he suspected that his sub-par grades were most probably due to his dislike of Snape.

The next morning Harry penned a reply to Fleur thanking her for her kind words and telling her that her letter was the most thoughtful thing anyone had done for him lately. He asked her how she and her family were and briefly mentioned that he was having a miserable time with his aunt and uncle. He sent the letter with Hedwig, uncaring if his neighbours or the Dursleys saw her or not.

He received a reply two days later.

 _#_

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I am very pleased to have heard back from you! I admit I would have been disappointed if you had not wished to contact me. If Gabrielle were here with me she would be pestering me about writing her own letter to you!_

 _My family are doing well. They are current holidaying in Toulouse. I, myself, am not with them. I have accepted a job at Gringotts here in London so that I may gain some work experience outside my country and improve my English. You are more than welcome to visit me if you like! In fact, if you ever find yourself in Diagon Alley, I would like to extend to you an invitation to visit me at my apartment above Amanuensis Quill Shop. It would be very nice to have a friend closer to my own age. So far, all my coworkers have been lecherous older men, with the exception of Bill Weasley- I believe he is your Ronald's brother._

 _I am very confused as to why you are staying with your muggle aunt and uncle. I was under the impression that such an important figure as yourself would have been raised and protected by a wizarding family. I do not have any reservations about muggles but I do believe that they can often be unaccepting towards wizarding ways- as seems the case with your relatives. All the more reason for you to come visit me, I suppose!_

 _I am glad that my letter offered you some comfort and I look forward to hearing from you soon._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Fleur_

 _#_

Harry was smiling at Fleur's invitation. He really wished he could. He hadn't had a face to face conversation with anyone since the Dursleys picked him up from Kings Cross.

He was also curious as to why Bill was at Gringotts. Ron had told him that his older brother was working in Egypt as a curse breaker. Well, Harry supposed he could have just gotten a new job.

Once again, he wrote and sent a reply off the next morning. The following day he heard more tapping at his window. Curiously, it wasn't Fleur's barn owl but a great, dark, vicious looking bird of prey. Harry hesitantly accepted the letter from the birds glinting talons.

 _#_

 _Harry Potter,_

 _I hav been in contact wit Fleur. She sed she waz going to send you a letter. I found it a good idea and hav desided to send my own._

 _I am deeply sorry for Cedric's loss and even mor so that you had to see. I do not shar my old headmasters beleefs. I think that what Voldemort hav dun is wrong. You ar brav to hav faced him._

 _I want to help in any way. Plees let me know wat I can do._

 _Viktor Krum_

 _#_

Harry spent a moment trying to decipher the odd letter before grinning. It was awfully nice of Krum to send him a letter as well, especially considering how bad his English appeared to be. It was quite funny to think that the ferocious bird that had been sitting on his window sill might have come all the way from Bulgaria to deliver a letter that was no more than ten sentences long. Harry wrote a longer reply and hoped that Krum would be able to understand it.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time July ended Harry had received five more letters from Fleur and two more (longer) letters from Viktor. They were both kind people at heart who seemed surprisingly interested in him and concerned about how he was adjusting to life after the Tournament. Harry wasn't sure about why Viktor cared so much, but Harry had found that Fleur's reason might have been because she had been quite lonely at Beauxbatons. Due to her veela heritage she had been shunned by a majority of the girls there. Fleur was suspicious of people but treasured every possible friend she could find. She was forward, proud, and had a subtle but biting sense of humour. She adored children and her closest friend was her little sister, Gabrielle. Harry suspected that the fact that he was younger than her (and a danger magnet) triggered her mothering side. Hermione had been prone to mothering him as well. However, Hermione mostly scolded and fussed over him whereas Fleur gently inquired about his well-being.

Thankfully, Viktor had gotten an English tutor and his following two letters became much easier to read. Viktor was blunt as well but with much less tact than Fleur. In contrast to Fleur he was calm and reserved. Harry had also found that he was surprisingly knowledgeable. In his last letter he had explained the curriculum at Durmstrang and his approaches to effectively learning his course material in between quidditch training and matches. He also shed some light on the approaches Durmstrang took to learning once Harry had mentioned he had a hard time sleeping after the Tournament. _At Durmstrang,_ he had written, _we practice Dark Arts. Of corse, it is dangerus so the teachers have to take precaushuns before we learn them. When we are in first year we learn Mind Arts- Occlumency. It helps calm and protect the mind, make better decishuns, we become less likely to be angered and do dangerus things if we can think before we act. Perhaps Occlumency may help you calm your mind as well so you may have not as bad nightmares._

On his birthday Harry received a letters from the Weasleys, Hermione, Remus, Sirius, Viktor and Fleur. Harry felt slightly guilty for not writing back to Hermione and Ron. He received chocolates from them, some of the new pranking material from the Weasley twins, a nice set of quills from Ginny and homemade apple pie from Molly- which he immediately dug into.

After opening Hermione and the Weasley's presents Harry moved on to Fleur's present.

 _Dearest Harry,_

 _Happy Birthday! I hope you are having a wonderful day. Don't let your relatives ruin it for you!_

 _Since we have started communicating quite often I have gotten you a Quick Post Journal. It is how my family and I keep in contact. It is certainly much more convenient than owls! Simply write a letter to me on its pages as you usually would and tap your letter with your wand. The words will disappear and be sent to me! Also, if you wish to start a written conversation, write my name on the top of the page and tap it with your wand twice. I shall receive notice of your message in my own journal. The words will not disappear and it shall be as if you and I are talking face to face! Wave your wand over the page to clear the conversation._

 _I have also taken the liberty of sending one to Viktor as well. As you may have assumed, my family and Viktor's family are quite close. Both our fathers work in the Ministry of our own countries._

 _Come see me when you come to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies!_

 _Fleur_

Harry slid the journal out of the package. It was an expensive looking deep brown leather-bound diary with his initials embossed in gold. The parchment pages were thick but pliant and there were runes carved on the inside of the cover. It must have taken a lot of spellwork to make.

He gently laid it beside him on the bed and picked up Viktor's present.

 _Harry,_

 _Happy Birthday. I hope you are keeping well._

 _I am in Germany at the moment for quidditch training. It is very boring because my manager is forcing me to attend parties. There are too many people and I do not see what they have to do with my sport._

Harry laughed at this.

 _In my last letter I mentioned Occlumency. Since you cannot leave your aunt's house I have assumed you cannot buy books on the subject. I have had this book translated from Russian for you. It was one of our first year books so it will be easy to follow._

 _I have also received a journal from Fleur. It is good that we will be talking in there. My eagle will be happy she does not have to travel so far anymore._

 _Viktor_

The book was titled _Controlling Your Mind._ It consisted of chapters largely on meditation and creating mental barriers but there was also a brief chapter on Legilimency.

Harry immediately put Fleur's gift to use and penned out thank you letters to them. He also wrote back to Ron, Hermione and Sirius to tell them what had been going on but decided against telling Ron and Hermione about Viktor and Fleur. He didn't want Ron to annoy him about autographs from the quidditch star or setting him up with Fleur and Hermione might be awkward about it after her rejection of Viktor.

Truth be told he felt like acting spiteful towards his old friends. They had been keeping things from him, so he would keep things from them.

Harry spent the next three weeks practicing the meditation exercises from the book Viktor had given him. He had read it start to finish and was disturbed to learn about Legilimency and how it could used to read and implant thoughts in his head. _All the more reason to learn Occlumency_ , he concluded. Every night, before he went to sleep, he meditated. He found that he couldn't quite get his mind to be "absent of thought" but he could manage to focus on a scene in his mind. The book had suggested he either think of something repetitive or think of a scene that calms him. He imagined a tree on a cliff overlooking the sea. All that could be heard was the rustling of the grass and the leaves of the tree as the wind gently blew.

The book explained that to be successful at protecting the mind you needed to be able to calm and block out emotion. Harry hadn't been very good at that lately. Thinking back to his years before Hogwarts Harry supposed that he had been very good at blocking out emotion. He never let the Dursleys see him cry and he made sure to keep his anger in check so Vernon wouldn't smack him. Going to Hogwarts made him drop his guard. He made and trusted his friends easily and didn't even bother to hide his anger from people like Malfoy- or even Dumbledore for that matter. _That needs to change,_ thought Harry.

After just three weeks of practicing he noticed his scar stopped prickling. It had been bothering him ever since Voldemort's return. It wasn't painful- just bothersome. His nightmares got a bit better as well. He still saw the graveyard and Cedric's unmoving face but now he couldn't hear Voldemort's voice or his own screams.

Harry, Fleur and Viktor also chatted quite a bit through the journals. He found out that Viktor didn't have very many friends either. The older boy had been a professional quidditch player since he was sixteen and had skipped out on a lot of school to train and play in matches. His fame and accepting attitude towards muggle-borns wasn't exactly popular among his peers. Harry learned that both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students started their schooling at nine-years-old but didn't get their wands until they were eleven. Laws on Dark Magic were also less strict on mainland Europe. It was refreshing to have friendly conversations with Viktor and Fleur. They weren't so willing to jump to conclusions as Ron was and gave balanced opinions on politics and more questionable branches of magic that would have had Hermione panicking. Since they had already finished their schooling they were also happy to give Harry advice on his school subjects.

With one week of the summer holidays to go Moody, Tonks, and Remus finally came to take him away.


End file.
